Pamela Anderson says she was sexually abused as a child

Pamela Anderson revealed over the weekend she was sexually abused as a child, according to the New York Daily News.

At the Cannes Film Festival in France to launch her animal charity, the Pamela Anderson Foundation, the former "Baywatch" star told an audience "I wanted off this Earth" after she was raped by one of her brother's friends and gang-raped by her first boyfriend and six others.

Anderson said it was "time to reveal a few of my memories," according to U.K. publication The Mirror.

"I did not have an easy childhood," she said. "I was molested from age 6 by a female babysitter.

"I went to her boyfriend's house and his older brother decided to teach me backgammon, which led into a back massage, which led into rape -- my first heterosexual experience. He was 25-years-old, and I was 12."

Anderson said her past trauma led her to have trust issues with humans. She instead embraced animals, which are the beneficiaries of her new organization.

The former wife of Tommy Lee said the reason she discussed her abuse was to show that, despite losing faith in humans, she was helped by her love of animals.

"My affinity with animals saved me. It came to me naturally. The trees spoke to me. I wasn't sure why I was alive," said Anderson, who is a vegan. "My loyalty remained with the animal kingdom and I vowed to protect them and only them.

"I prayed to the whales with my feet in the ocean, my only real friends until I had children."